UrSkeks were a race of creatures not native to Thra, characterised by their tall, luminescent appearance, psychic abilities, and collectivist society. A group of non-conformist urSkeks, known as Fallen urSkeks, were banished from their homeworld to Thra during the planet's first Great Conjunction. After nine hundred and ninety-nine and one trine of attempting to reform themselves, and influence the cultural development of Thra's sentient races, the urSkeks sought to purify themselves through the power of the Great Crystal during the second Great Conjunction. In so doing, each of the Fallen urSkeks inadvertently divided themselves into two separate beings; the violent, materialistic Skeksis, and the gentle, contemplative urRu.

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The urSkeks were tall, upright beings with a light of inner beauty[3] which would turn dark when angered.[1] They had powerful psychic abilities, being able to telekenetically construct edifices and heal injuries.[2][4]

UrSkek culture, which the Fallen urSkeks themselves claimed to be "ageless", was rigidly collectivist,[1] with deviant behaviour deemed "heresy", and punishable by exile.[2] The urSkeks percieved space and time as essentially triangular, and this was reflected in their art and architecture.[3]

Little is known of the urSkek homeworld, other than the fact that it was "far beyond the farthest star",[2] that it was born of a crystal like Thra, and that it vaguely resembled the Castle of the Crystal's Hall of Reflection.[1] Other than the urSkeks themselves, the planet was inhabited by Garthim-like sea creatures.[3]

The 18 Fallen urSkeks were exiled to Thra after they committed "heresy"[2] by attempting to use their homeworld's crystal for a grand design their people deemed folly.[3]
They were promised the right to return home, on condition that they master their darker selves. The Fallen urSkeks arrived on Thra through the Great Crystal, during the planet's first Great Conjunction. There, they encountered Aughra, who had been badly burned by the intense heat given off by her close proximity to the Conjunction. They healed her, and introduced themselves as "light bringers", promising peace and peerless gifts. Shortly after arriving, the urSkeks sang to the mountain containing the Great Crystal, demolishing it and encasing the Crystal in a crystal fortress.[2]

For the next nine hundred and ninety-nine and one trine, a period known in Thra's history as the Age of Harmony,[5] the urSkeks imparted their knowledge to both Aughra and the Gelfling. To the latter, they gave tools, and the knowledge necessary to tame nature and expand their territories. To Aughra, the urSkeks built the Great Observatory,[2] and taught her how to manipulate energy through the use of numbers.[3] Nevertheless, the Fallen urSkeks yearned to return to their homeworld, and attempted numerous times to communicate with their people without success.[2]

Wisdom and compassion have their roots in the same soil as violence and hate. That the urSkeks did not understand this and violated their nature was the ruin of our World. They looked and spoke like superior beings, but they too were capable of error.

After nine hundred and ninety-nine and one trine passed since their arrival, the urSkeks created a network of mirrors around the Great Crystal with Aughra's help, intending to trap the light of the next Great Conjunction to re-enter their world and burn out the imperfections in their souls in the process.[3] In preparation for this, the urSkeks invited delegations representing all of Thra's sentient races to watch the occasion. However, one urSkek became wracked by nostalgia after hearing a member of the Gelfling delegation play an urSkek song, and allowed its darker nature to overwhelm it.[1] When the Three Suns met, the dark hearted urSkek's rage prevented the rest of the urSkeks from entering the Crystal and being cleansed. Instead of being purified, the urSkeks were divided into two separate species; the Skeksis and the urRu. A fight broke out, resulting in the deaths of two Skeksis/urRu, causing the rest of the urRu and the delegations to flee the Castle. Aughra remained, and attempted to reason with the Skeksis, but they refused to listen, and cracked the Crystal, chipping off a shard, which disappeared.[1]

Despite the separation, there was still a spiritual link between each Skeksis and urRu counterpart, a constant reminder that they were only halves of the same being. If either was wounded, the other felt the pain and suffered an identical injury. If one died, both died.[4][3][1]

Another nine hundred and ninety-nine and one trine later, only eight of the original 18 pairs remained. By the upcoming Conjunction, thanks to the GelflingJen, the process that created the two races was reversed and the urSkeks were reformed, and departed into a higher level of existence, leaving the Gelfings as the keepers of the Crystal.[4]